Thoughts

If it weren't for drunk driving, drug possession, and domestic violence crimes, The TIMES NEWS would have trouble filling up it's Police Log column each day. But unfortunately that's not the case.

One day last week I counted 13 DUI arrests in a single day. That statistic is enough to drive you to drink.

It seems some Notre Dame fans residing in Jim Thorpe know how to overturn the Sports Illustrated jinx. In case you're not familiar with the jinx, athletes who grace the cover of Sports Illustrated one week, often find themselves being defeated or brought down in some way the next week. It's called the dreaded SI jinx.

It just so happens that a cover featuring a Notre Dame helmet with a super-imposed image of Touchdown Jesus, graced the cover the same week the Irish were to play Southern Cal, with a berth in the BCS national championship game at stake.

Not to take any chances, the Jim Thorpe crew burned a copy of that week's Sports Illustrated, casting out the jinx. And it worked. Notre Dame won the game 22-13 and now gets a chance to play for college football's biggest prize.

Last week's first snowstorm, although only 2-3 inches, reminded me how much I hate winter, and it's not even here yet for another 12 days.

The biggest and most important football game of the season is today - Army, Navy at 3 p.m. That's as good as it gets. It's the only college game in which every particpant gets to turn pro once they graduate - pro as in pro-military and pro-America.

Is it my hearing that's going or do cell phones tend to have a tinny sound compared to land lines?

The more I watch the reruns, the more I'm convinced that M*A*S*H was the best show ever on television. It wasn't the best comedy that ever aired. It wasn't the best drama either. But when you put all the components together it made for the number one series that I've ever watched. And, like many westerns, it's a show that never ages.

Teenage employment in Pennsylvania is among the highest of any state. Thirty nine percent of teems 16-19 held jobs in 2011. The national average is 26 percent.

I think this speaks well about our young people and the values about hard work they are being taught by their parents. Pennsylvania kids aren't afraid to go out and break a sweat.

Guaranteed, we will be inundated with pictures and stories galore about British Prince Phillips' bride Kate's pregnancy. The birth will be the most publicized event in Europe this year.

It couldn't happen to anyone more deserving.

Penn State Senior quarterback Matt McGloin won the Bulsworth Trophy this week. He was selected as the nation's best collegiate player who started his career as a walk-on, non scholarship player.

I never heard of the Bulsworth Award until this week, but after researching its origins, it seems like a great idea.

Only three years old, 50 players, all walk ons, were nominated for this year's honor.

And who was Bulsworth? Brandon Bulsworth started his career as a walk on at Arkansas and then went on to become of the best offensive linemen in the Southeastern Conference.

He died in a car accident only days after the Indianapolic Colts selected him early in the third round of the 1999 NFL draft.

Holy tweet! Pope Benedict XVI has his own twitter account.

The Pontiff will tweet in eight languages starting Dec. 12 using his personal handles @Pontifex, responding live to questions about faith during his weekly general audience, the Vatican said earlier this week.

How far he's fallen. I always liked Lenny "Nails" Dykstra as a player, when he was a Met and and a Phillie, but he hasn't taken the success he enjoyed on the playing field into the real world. Not by a long shot. Dykstra has been in and out of trouble ever since his playing days ended and this week sunk to a new low when he was sentenced to 6/12 months in prison for hiding baseball gloves and other heirlooms from his playing days that were supposed to be part of his bankruptcy filing.

After apologizing for his actions, Dykstra was quoted as saying, "I don't think I'm a bad person. I made some bad decisions."

Bad decisions? When Dykstra filed for bankruptcy three years ago he claimed he owed more than $31 million and had only $50,000 in assets.

Only 16 more shopping days until Christmas. Is it too early to order my Christmas kielbasa?